National Biography Award 2015 shortlist announced

6 July 2015 Books+Publishing

The State Library of NSW has announced the shortlist for the 2015 National Biography Award for biographical writing and memoir.

The shortlisted titles are:

An Unsentimental Bloke: The Life and Work of C J Dennis (Philip Butterss, Wakefield Press)
Moving among Strangers: Randolph Stow and My Family (Gabrielle Carey, UQP)
Citizen Emperor: Napoleon in Power 1799-1815 (Philip Dwyer, Bloomsbury)
To Begin to Know: Walking in the Shadows of My Father (David Leser, A&U)
A Singular Vision, Harry Seidler (Helen O’Neill, HarperCollins)
The Feel-Good Hit of the Year: A Memoir (Liam Pieper, Penguin).

The winner will be announced on 3 August at a Biography Week event at the State Library of NSW. The winner will receive $25,000 and each shortlisted author will receive $1000.

NSW state librarian and chief executive Alex Byrne described the shortlisted titles as ‘outstanding examples of how personal narratives connect us to the past and provide emotional richness to important historical research’.

Chair of judges Melanie Nolan said each title on the shortlist shared ‘high biographical and literary qualities’. Nolan will be joined by Peter Cochrane and Rosemary Sorensen as judges for the 2015 award.

Read more about the prize and Biography Week here.

Category: Local news